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Kenton

#1,758 in 2025Boys' name

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Kenton has been given to 11,280 babies in the U.S. since 1912. In 2025 it ranked #1,758 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2014, with 188 recorded.

Babies named Kenton, 2025

1 in 36,000

Kenton over time, 1880–2025

Boys
05010015020018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Kenton: meaning, origin, and history

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

surname transfer

What Kenton means

Kenton has more than one naming route in the cited origin entries: “royal + enclosure; settlement, town”.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

From either the Old English personal name Cena or cyne- (“royal”) + tūn (“enclosure; settlement, town”).

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Kenton (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Kenton is used in English. Its origins include surname transfer.

Kenton is recorded as a surname transferred into given-name use.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Kenton is pronounced /ˈkɛn.tən/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 11,280 boys were recorded with the name Kenton between 1912 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 188 in 2014; its best national rank was #586 in 1958.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #1,483 in 2020 to #1,758 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #1,081 in 2015 to #1,758 in 2025.

How common is Kenton?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 36,000
92 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 18,600
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#1,758
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
24,978 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Kenton sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 5001%

Put another way: gather 24,978 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Kenton. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Kentons were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Kenton was born before 1984 — so the typical Kenton is around 41 today.

Median birth year
1984
About 41 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
13.2% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
28.4%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
9,858
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 13.2% of all recorded uses (1,493).

Is Kenton rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+366
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
−275
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−677
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.51×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
48.9%
Peak was 2014 (188)
Years since peak
11
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
12.6% average annual change
Best rank ever
#586
1958

Spellings of Kenton

Kenton is not the most common spelling — Weston is, with 14.0% against Kenton's 2.1%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Kenton is used

Across 2016–2025, Kenton was most concentrated in Kentucky — about 1 in 3,125 boys, against 1 in 19,481 across all states with data. It was least common in Washington (1 in 100,000).

132 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Kentucky1 in 3,125
  2. 2Indiana1 in 5,000
  3. 3Pennsylvania1 in 6,250
  4. 4Ohio1 in 7,692
  5. 5Georgia1 in 20,000
  6. 6North Carolina1 in 20,000
  7. 7Colorado1 in 25,000
  8. 8Missouri1 in 25,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Kenton around the world

Where Kenton ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2023
    #4,108
    in 2023
  • Canada
    1991–2024
    #3,231
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1944–1999
    #539
    in 1999

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Notable people named Kenton

People whose public names include Kenton, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Kenton by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#1,758
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 275
Best rank ever
#586
1958
Peak year
2014
188 that year
First recorded
1912
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
11,280
Count in 2025
92

Names similar to Kenton

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

KenyonKennithKendalKenstonKennedyJaxtonBostonLaytonBentonBartonKenjiWiltonDaxtonNewtonDaytonKendellKenzoKenanKoltonSuttonHiltonKeltonKennonKendall

Names with a curve like Kenton

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Kenton, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

MikelJacquesElvisFidelReynaldoEddyDarellFedericoLarsEloyGinoBlaine

Sibling names for Kenton

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Kenton

Top names of 2014, Kenton's peak yearThe 2010s in fullOther names that peaked in 1958Boys' names starting with K